Battlefield Hardline is the first in the Battlefield
franchise to steer into another direction with its single-player campaign. Instead
of its usual war zone theme, the single player campaign of Battlefield Hardline was
split into episodes with character-driven police procedurals of American cop drama.
Austin Walker's review of Battlefield Hardline shares his
opinions about the game and how it compares to police portrayal in TV shows or real
life situations. Hardline tries to create familiar elements from police TV shows,
but the plot and characterization are often confused and rushed.
In most cases, TV police aren't supposed to kill suspects and
in context of the game, Visceral encourages players to be Good Cops. Austin
spent nearly all of his time playing Hardline committed to the ideal of using less-lethal
force, by stating:
"When things exploded into violence I carefully “zoned” my enemies, drawing them into the short range of my Taser so that I could knock them out instead of killing them."
The game does encourage the player to play stealthily rather
than choosing for a run and gun approach, though the unlock system doesn't appropriately
reward you for your stealthy actions. The game rewards you with lethal weapons
to shoot your enemies for a more aggressive guns blazing approach to your gameplay.
Marc Price's review of Battlefield Hardline mentions that
the game was released to the public at a bad time. In the recent events of
issues such as police violence, police brutality, militarized police and racism
were brought attention to the public eye during the game's release. These
issues may have had an effect on how the audience perceives the game.
Link to Austin Walker's Review:
Link to Marc Price's Response:
